People's dress sense/standards at work

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#1644453 2-Oct-2016 22:57

"Casual Friday" has always made me laugh... Are you a bunch of school children?

Sometimes being a tradesman is totally worth it.

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Rikkitic

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#1644457 2-Oct-2016 23:18

dejadeadnz:

Your stances here are internally inconsistent. If it's demeaning to have standard dress (i.e. standards), why is poor taste a problem? MikeB4 is right: if you dress like a gumboot, you will be treated like one. Whether people like it or not, in most jobs/industries there are generally applicable/expected dress standards. There's no point in deliberately flouting them and making your perceived lack of good taste/consideration for others a central focus.

You asked for opinions, I gave one. I am not seeking your approval and I don't care what you think about my stances. Pompous twittery is also a stance, but you don't see me complaining.

Plesse igmore amd axxept applogies in adbance fir anu typos

Geektastic

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#1644459 2-Oct-2016 23:23

dejadeadnz:

alasta:

I don't really believe in dress codes because I don't think grown up professionals should need to be told what is appropriate.

If I'm meeting a client (rarely) I dress in full formal attire. If I'm just hanging around the office then I lose the suit and tie but still wear an ironed business shirt and dress trousers. To me that's common sense.

Can I +1 this 20 times?

I've got a number of bespoke tailored jackets and things from my days in the UK. Very expensive but I've never regretted the expenditure - all of them still look as good as new.

The greatest psychological challenge comes from them reminding one of what size one used to be...! ;-)

As an amusing aside, I know that a man (no names, no pack drill) who runs one of the most successful photography websites worldwide which makes him over $1 million USD per annum often sits and works on the site all day in his underpants...!

blakamin

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#1644463 3-Oct-2016 00:10

dejadeadnz:

Whether people like it or not, in most jobs/industries there are generally applicable/expected dress standards.

Actually, "in most jobs and industries" attire is entirely related to safety... There's no "expected dress standard" at all. You wear PPE, or you don't work.

You wanna wear a Hawaiian shirt under your hi-viz and helmet, go hard (provided long sleeves aren't PPE). Nobody is going to care less. Nobody cares if your cuffs are frayed.

Us industrial workers prefer you know how to do your job without hurting anyone, and in 30 years in the (industrial) work force, I have never seen anyone ridiculed for their dress sense.

It's probably the reason so many of us get a laugh out of office people acting like school children all the time, with their "casual fridays" etc.

Some people have to realise "most" jobs aren't in offices.

Oh, tomorrow I'm probably wearing a t-shirt and Levis (it's a public holiday here). I might even put some socks on.

EDIT: In all seriousness, if the way other people dress has an impact on your job, you need to re-think your priorities.

A couple of people that would've failed your "dress sense" would be Steve Jobs & Wozniak. Would've loved to see you tell them how to dress.

geekiegeek

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#1644473 3-Oct-2016 06:01

Jeans, plain T-shirt and sneakers for me. We don't entertain clients in the office and I keep a suit and shirt etc. on a hanger for when I need to go to a client site. Comfort is my key driver. In summer it will be shorts and a T-shirt.

If you don't have to front to clients (in my case they all wear suits) then I don't see much point in sitting around the office in a suit all day.

tdgeek

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#1644481 3-Oct-2016 07:47

Rikkitic:

dejadeadnz:

Your stances here are internally inconsistent. If it's demeaning to have standard dress (i.e. standards), why is poor taste a problem? MikeB4 is right: if you dress like a gumboot, you will be treated like one. Whether people like it or not, in most jobs/industries there are generally applicable/expected dress standards. There's no point in deliberately flouting them and making your perceived lack of good taste/consideration for others a central focus.

You asked for opinions, I gave one. I am not seeking your approval and I don't care what you think about my stances. Pompous twittery is also a stance, but you don't see me complaining.

Be quite good to discuss without insulting.

MikeB4

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#1644488 3-Oct-2016 07:56

blakamin:
dejadeadnz:

Whether people like it or not, in most jobs/industries there are generally applicable/expected dress standards.

Actually, "in most jobs and industries" attire is entirely related to safety... There's no "expected dress standard" at all. You wear PPE, or you don't work.

You wanna wear a Hawaiian shirt under your hi-viz and helmet, go hard (provided long sleeves aren't PPE). Nobody is going to care less. Nobody cares if your cuffs are frayed.

Us industrial workers prefer you know how to do your job without hurting anyone, and in 30 years in the (industrial) work force, I have never seen anyone ridiculed for their dress sense.

It's probably the reason so many of us get a laugh out of office people acting like school children all the time, with their "casual fridays" etc.

Some people have to realise "most" jobs aren't in offices.

Oh, tomorrow I'm probably wearing a t-shirt and Levis (it's a public holiday here). I might even put some socks on.

EDIT: In all seriousness, if the way other people dress has an impact on your job, you need to re-think your priorities.

A couple of people that would've failed your "dress sense" would be Steve Jobs & Wozniak. Would've loved to see you tell them how to dress.

With Steve Jobs and Wozniak it was as I said in my earlier post, their company their rules. Neither would not have survived at the likes of IBM or HP. When Wozniak was with HP he dressed according to their dress code.

If you accept a job you accept all the terms and conditions, if you don't like those terms don't join.

reven

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#1644491 3-Oct-2016 08:09

depends on the role/company. sure as a lawyer I would wear a suit. as a doctor/nurse I would wear scrubs. as a programmer I wear ts and jeans (as does EVERY one else in the office, since we're all programmers)

darylblake

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#1644492 3-Oct-2016 08:11

It depends largely on what you do, some of those concrete pourers are pretty rough aye.

But yes personal hygiene and cleanliness would be whats most important to me.

Generally in professional roles you would have a higher standard of dress. When I was in Hong Kong last week I noticed a lot of bankers etc were pretty smartly dressed.

I am working in software development, and if I have to meet clients I may require something more formal so will dress depending on what my calendar looks like. But 90% of the time when I am sitting writing software, I would much rather be comfortable in more casual dress.

If I were a lawyer or accountant then for sure I would be in a suit & tie.

MikeAqua

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#1644498 3-Oct-2016 08:40

Personal hygiene and visible grooming can be included in dress codes. In another role I've had to have a conversation with an employee about use of deodorant. Awkward for both of us, but had to be done.

99.9% of employees don't need to be told how to dress appropriately. The 0.1% that do are the reason dress codes exist.

Mike

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#1644503 3-Oct-2016 08:54

MikeB4:

In business if you dress like a gumboot you will treated like one. If it's my business it's my standards, if someone does not like it then ta ta.

Expecting standards has sod all to do with my brain power.

In engineering, if you dress like a suit, you'll be treated like a salesman. So, yeah, I don't want to see someone walk in in board shorts, jandals, and a T-shirt with pit stains, but I also value someone's ability to, you know, work, far higher than their ability to wear expensive clothes.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

Item

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#1644510 3-Oct-2016 09:06

Clean, tidy, safe/suitable for the operational environment and all the important bits covered - that's all that should be required/demanded of people at work.

If you want to wear a Tom Ford suit, tailored shirt and a cravat - more power to you. If you feel more comfortable in T-shirt and cargo pants then great.

I would like to think I judge my colleagues and staff on their actions, their output and their attitude rather than their sartorial bent and I would prefer an office full of comfortable, happy and productive people than staff feeling forced to conform to some outmoded notion of "appropriate" work attire in order to be taken seriously.

Personally I wear a nice shirt and tailored suit pants most days...with dockers and T-shirt/hoodie when I feel like being casual or my plans for the day call for something more relaxed. If anyone feels my seniority, ability or value is diminished on my causal days then that is their issue to manage, not mine.

Let's move away from notions of dress defining worth shall we. Wasn't that long ago you would have been laughed out of town attempting serious discourse among peers without your powdered wig on...I like to think society is moving beyond that now.

PhantomNVD

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#1644520 3-Oct-2016 09:28

In my last job I was 'forced' to go collar and tie, while the ladies got to wear basically anything that covered all their bits and wasn't considered 'scandalous'... actual joke being, I'm a Primary School teacher and was teaching 6-7year olds... as if a tie would improve my teaching or the respect my 'clients' gave me 😆

trig42

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#1644535 3-Oct-2016 09:55

Our office, from GM down is very casual.

T Shirts and Jeans would be the most common.

Shorts are OK too, only thing not really allowed is open footwear as sometimes we have to go offsite into areas that need closed footwear.

Visitors to our office (company reps) will often dress down before they get here - they get ribbed if they show up in a suit (all in fun).

Agreed on personal hygiene though - no excuses for showing up to work smelly!

Fred99

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#1644540 3-Oct-2016 10:05

PhantomNVD: In my last job I was 'forced' to go collar and tie, while the ladies got to wear basically anything that covered all their bits and wasn't considered 'scandalous'... actual joke being, I'm a Primary School teacher and was teaching 6-7year olds... as if a tie would improve my teaching or the respect my 'clients' gave me 😆

It's worse for women in many workplaces. I'm sure that they're judged more on appearance - including dress - than men. At executive level, men can probably get away with owning a couple of suits and pairs of sensible shoes and simple "accessorising" with ties/shirts.

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